When it comes to show-specific headlines over the past week, who would have felt that “Family Guy” would have managed to become the top story? This is a silly and at times extremely juvenile show, but thanks to the passion and intensity of the diehard fans, an event like Brian’s death sent tremors throughout the internet. Very few people are happy about it, especially when it comes to the addition of new family dog Vinny … who is mostly annoying at the moment.

So the question on the minds of many is simple: Is this all some sort of charade? While there is evidence out there suggesting that Brian will be back in some form, you’re not going to be getting an answer to that this weekend. The reason for that is pretty simple: There is no new “Family Guy” episode on Sunday night. The show is in repeats along with “The Simpsons,” and will be back the following week. There are two new episodes airing still this fall, including a holiday-themed one airing on December 15 that we are going to keeping a very close watch on.

But away from the TV schedule, let’s put on a conspiracy cap for a minute. If you do go over to Fox’s official site for the show, isn’t it curious that the clip immediately following the Brian tribute is one with a headline about Stewie altering the past? It’s a clip from an old episode (a Brian-heavy one) airing on Sunday night, but couldn’t this be interpreted as a clue? We see there being no reason to give up on the notion of the dog passing away for good, which is probably why Seth MacFarlane has been so quiet about this ever since the “death” episode first aired.

We’ll find out whether or not we are right / wrong soon enough, but for now we have to give the producers credit for making us talk about the show more than we ever have before. Never has it been such a hot-button conversation topic on the site until now.